“THEY ARE ATTACKING US NOW?” Vikalos roared as he grabbed several Decaylings and pulled them to safety.
An explosion had shattered parts of the cargo bay and fires were slowly making their way down the ship. As soon as the Thantir began to shoot back though, the Voidlord army immediately scattered and disappeared. Only a handful of Voidborn fighter crafts remained, and they were swiftly being taken care of by Itaviir and several of the other Decay Lords outside.
Thankfully, the front end of the Thantir’s head ship, the Thantir One, was mostly intact. But the repairs would leave them adrift for at least a week.
“Seems like it!” Seimeni tutted, appearing by Vikalos’s side. “Thankfully, no one was killed and we’ve only got a couple of injuries. Seems like they just want us to stop helping Life Goddesses. What can I do to help?”
With a growl, Vikalos pulled open the large cargo bay doors that had sealed the rest of the area. Puffing up his chest, the Void Lord blasted the area with frozen breath, putting out the remaining fires and allowing him to see the extent of the damage. A third of the cargo bay was gone, namely most of the ship-docks, where smaller Thantir ships were parked when not in use.
“Is everyone accounted for?”
“Uh, not everyone. Everyone on board is. Everyone out there, not so much. And our, uh, ship records… were located in the area of the cargo bay that just got blown up.”
Vikalos glared at Seimeni. “What do you mean?”
“I, uh, didn’t make backups.”
“I TOLD YOU TO MAKE BACKUPS!” Vikalos shouted, before stopping himself from getting angrier with a deep, still cold breath. “I need you to contact every ship and get them to come back.”
Seimeni shrugged. “And where are we gonna park these ships?”
“Outside the ship, with chains. Until we get this fixed. I assume you already got the injured to the medical bays, yes?”
“Of course!” Seimeni beamed. “Everyone on board is all nice and safe. A couple of burns and cuts and bruises here and there. Really, we’re lucky they decided to shoot the cargo end of our ship and not the sides or anything. That would have been super bad.”
Vikalos sneered. “They were sending us a message to not interfere. The Voidborns know how to cause maximum damage and did not.”
“So, uh…” Seimeni’s tone changed. “Are we… going to stop helping the Life Goddesses?”
“I am unsure yet. We will have to speak to all the Decay Lords. But for now, we will have to hold off on assisting the Life Goddesses until all of this is repaired and everyone is back. Can you go and start calling ships back to the bay, please?”
Seimeni nodded and started bouncing off. “On it, boss!”
…
“Uh, guys… was that the Decay Lord base that just went boom?”
“Uh… yes, yes it was…” Retvik replied as the four beings stared out of the main cockpit. “Well, it looks like it is mostly still there… We should probably head over to it, right Arkay?”
Arkay however simply gripped the ship controls tighter, not answering.
“Arkay?”
“No. We shouldn’t.”
“Why not, Arkay?” Tenuk and Elksia both asked in unison.
“They’ll try to kill us. I won’t let them.”
“And, uh, what do you suggest, Arkay?” Retvik hesitated. “You are not… suggesting that we… go after the Voidborns, are you?”
Arkay snarled, turning his attention to a small navigation panel. “Yeah, that’s what I’m suggesting. Just me though. I’m not going to make you guys come with me or anything. Don’t want to risk your lives. But I want to try and do one last good thing before I get locked away forever, even if it means I die in the process.”
Retvik blinked in confusion. “Wait, excuse me? You said you were going to be transferred-”
“To a place where I’ll be with those like myself. The broken hybrids too dangerous to be properly alive!” Arkay snapped. “The Voidborns think everyone of us is a monster, worse than the amalgam that I am. I want to prove them wrong.”
The others all took a deep breath, looking at each other awkwardly. Not because they were worried about dying, but because they were worried about Arkay.
“Do you have a plan, at least?” Tenuk eventually asked. “A decent one?”
“Yes.”
Retvik shrugged. “One with a chance of success?”
“Yes.”
“Well…” Retvik patted Arkay on the back. “I guess we are coming with you… After all, we cannot let you die alone…”